Deception
by AngeloftheMorning1978
Summary: EROTICA! A&A. Vey dark in places. Ariadne is stolen. Arthur is seeking revenge.
1. Chapter 1

**Got this idea a few days ago and wanted to start right away before the idea left me. **

** Warning! If you are a A&A fan, you may get upset at this story. It's very dark in places. **

** It can be after "Ariadne's Thread" but you don't have to read "Ariadne's Thread", "Arthur's Birthday", "Arthur's Totem", Or "A Week at This Level" in order to get this. **

** Unless you want to read all the yummy erotica I write. It is yummy trust me. **

** All you need to know is that A&A are together. **

Deception

Ariadne would remember nothing at all about that night. Perhaps that was for the best. The trauma she_ did _recall was enough to haunt anyone.

Arthur remembered enough for both of them. Later, his detail oriented mind, his careful habits were thrown into question. Cobb never blamed him. Even Mr. Eames said it wasn't his fault. None of that matter to the Point Man.

Ariadne was gone. Stolen in the night. Arthur had put up a valiant fight to defend her, as five armed men in a van attacked the couple. Beating the Point Man bloody and taking the screaming Architect away. Forcing her in the van that sped off quickly into the cold night.

Arthur was choking on his own blood as he tried to call her name.

~ In the emergency room, Arthur's hands were shaking. A long gash was cut deeply over his left eye. A young doctor was stitching him up. Tight, little stitches. Blood was stained all over his once nice clothing. Most of the blood, belonging to the Point Man.

"Sir, you said that you and the young lady were walking home?" A constable asked while the doctor worked.

Arthur was brought painfully back to reality. His mind had wondered back to the men in the van.

"Yes." He said. His voice horse and raw from the horrible event. His face was hurting.  
>"Did you know these men?" The Constable asked.<p>

"No. They were in a small blue van. Last numbers on the plate was 9-0-6. There were five of them. They wore masks." The Point Man explained. Closing his eyes to better recall every painful detail. "They were well trained. Organized. They swooped in very efficiently and attacked. They knew exactly where to find us and managed to drive away very quickly."

Arthur felt this detail was important and he was more then a little annoyed the constable was not writing that down. The police man was looking at him in mild surprise.

"Sir, do you owe a lot of money to people? Or have you been involved with some type of gang or drug deal?" He asked.  
>"What?" The Point Man croaked. His throat stinging sharply. "Of course not." He said giving the Constable a dirty look.<p>

"Only, from what you described. It sounds like... professionals." The Constable finished. He gave the Point Man a hard look as The Extractor and the Forger came into the ER.

"Arthur." Cobb said in a rush. "Oh God!" He exclaimed seeing his friend's bloodied and beaten face. "What happened?"

"Men. They attacked us." Arthur said. He could feel a sudden uncontrollable bust of emotion well up. "They took her, Cobb." He said starting to sob. "They took Ariadne."


	2. Chapter 2

2.

Ariadne never remembered that night she was taken. The cold frost in the air as she and Arthur left the theater. Their breath, visible as if steamed out of their mouths in nice little puffs. His pulling her close to his body and kissing the top oh her head as they trudged home.

Laughing.

The feel of his warm body, trying to keep her warm.

They had enjoyed a nice evening out. She had wanted to see a show and he had dutifully obliged to sit through the boring production. She knew he would do anything she asked her.

His pleasure of being with her. Her joy of being with such a handsome young man. She could barely concentrate on the show with his hands moving up her leg. Caressing up her dress. Covered by the darkness of the theater. Her face a constant blush.

~ She woke up in their apartment. She could hear the Point Man in the kitchen as she climbed out of bed. Her body felt tired but ready to start the day.

"Morning." She yawned as she ran a hand through her messy hair.

"Good Morning." Arthur said rather formally. It almost made Ariadne do a double take as she went to the bathroom to shower. His behavior to her was rather... professional. Not like he was normally with her.

She quickly showered and started dressing as the morning was dawning on them.  
>"Cobb wants you to draw up new mazes for the Temple extraction." Arthur said. His Point Man tone was cold and not at all the way he acted while they were alone. Perhaps when they first met, when they were working on a job. But not when they were alone.<p>

"Are you mad at me?" She asked from inside her large walk in closet.

"No." Arthur said turning his gaze away from her body as she dropped her robe and went to work putting on panties and a bra. Arthur normally watched her dress with interest. Although she was sure he did it subconsciously.

That basic trait that all males share. To stare at a beautiful naked woman.

"Okay." She said softly. Sadly.

"I'm sorry." Arthur said awkwardly. Again reminiscent of their early days together. "It's nothing you did. I just had a rough night."

"Was the show that bad?" She teased.

Arthur blushed which surprised her. He never blushed. Never lost his composer like that.  
>"Are you okay?" She said with a laugh. She exited her closet half dressed and ran a hand through his hair. The light of the morning catching a thin silver bracelet she always wore. Arthur blushed harder and turned away from her wearing little more then a skit and bra.<p>

"I'm fine." He said trying to sound casual. "We need to get going."

"Alright." She agreed. "Are you going to pick up those bagels for Eames and Cobb?" She asked.

"What for?" Arthur asked. She peeped back out of her closet and laughed.

"The bet you lost with me? If Sadie would take Eames back?" She teased him. "You said she wouldn't take him back after she stabbed him with a salad fork, I said she would."

"Oh." The Point Man said looking lost in thought.  
>"I still can't believe he even <em>wants<em> to go back to her. She's the very picture of a _hot mess_." Ariadne said pulling on a green sweater and shrugging on a fashionable pea coat.

Arthur was waiting patiently as she grabbed her bag and pulled on trendy boots. He gave her a polite smile as he held open the door for her.

They stopped for bagels for the Team as they walked to the warehouse. It was cold outside, but the day was still young. By noon, she knew she would be able to lose her coat and be comfortable. Ariadne was surprised that Arthur didn't say anything to her. He was polite and reserved. As he was with almost everyone. But none of the intimate gestures they shared were there. Something was off.

"Are you sure everything is alright?" she asked before they entered the warehouse.

"Of course." He said with a smile as he held the door open for her again.

"It's just you seem a little... off." She told him.

"Like I said... I didn't sleep well." He told her.

"You not still thinking about losing yourself in the dream are you?" She asked. He looked at her in surprise.

"That wont happen again." She told him. "If it dose, I'll come and get you." She said with a smile. Kissing his cheek before the lift door opened, depositing them on the nearly barren warehouse floor. She never saw Arthur flushing deeply and looking very uncomfortable.

~ "Your going to blow the whole deal." Cobb was saying. His voice uncharacteristically rough and unkind.

"No, I won't." Arthur said casting a quick glance at the Architect working on her mazes alone. A worried look on his face. A look Arthur never wore.

"Randy's right." Eames said. His British accent gone. His voice unfamiliar. "She's gonna catch on."

"No she won't, Bill." Arthur said to Eames. His voice pleading and narrow. "Look, I worked with Arthur for years. I know how he acts."

"Jim, I should be the one impersonating Arthur." Cobb said. The Extractor's nice gentle manners were gone. Replaced with unflattering rudeness.

"No!" Arthur said. His voice high. "No, she's used to me. I've established myself as Arthur. Just... just give me more time."

"Till the end of the day." Cobb said roughly as Eames cursed.

"I need all of us to stay in character." Arthur said. His voice trying to return to that of the Point Man's. "She'll never buy us as her Team if we can't get the voices right." He added looking at Eames.

"Aw Shit!" Eames said. His accent American and rude. "What's the deal with this guy Eames anyway? He some kinda Homo?"

"He has a girlfriend." Arthur said looking at Eames as if he were truly stupid.

"Well that's doesn't mean _shit_." Eames said plucking as his clothes. "What kinda dude dresses like _this_?" he said looking uncomfortable.

"Eames does." Arthur said. "Now stay in character."

"I can't do a British accent." Eames said futility.

"Then don't say anything." Cobb said before turning to Arthur. "Jim, you make this work. You get her to design our mazes and give us intelligence on Cobb and his Team. If you don't, I will forge myself as her little boyfriend and get the info myself. She won't like _my_ methods."

"Randy, that wont be necessary." Arthur said. His eyes wide and unblinking. Looking genuinely fearful.


	3. Chapter 3

3.

~ Ariadne wondered why Cobb, Eames and Arthur were always sneaking off by themselves during the work day. Their faces always looking intense and almost angry. Their manners and characteristics, nothing at all like the men she had come to know.

She showed Cobb her new mazes. The Extractor was abnormally friendly to her and more then a little flirtatious. She cast a quick glance at Arthur, who seemed not to have noticed. The Point Man looked worried. As if his thoughts were miles away from the warehouse.

~ "I think we need to find Cobb a lady friend." Ariadne said later that evening.

She had changed into the cute pajamas Arthur had given her last week and climbed into bed next to the Point Man. Arthur shifted to give her plenty of space. He normally never did that. Always wanting her to make contact with him. To climb over him in their normal bed time game. Never willfully distancing himself from her.

"Why do you say that?" Arthur asked as she folded herself under the covers. Keeping away the night time cold with their body heat.

"Did you see the way he was acting at the Warehouse?" She asked. Rubbing her cold feet against his warm ones. Arthur moved his feet away from hers slightly.

"What do you mean? Was he acting strange?" He asked finally looking at her.

"He was _hitting _on me, Arthur." Ariadne said bluntly. "He put his hand on my back and was talking to me like he was going to ask me out or something."

"He was just being friendly." Arthur said shaking his head.

"Fine." Ariadne fumed. Not mentioning that more then once that day, she caught Cobb sneaking a peak down her blouse. A trait so unlike Cobb it gave her concern.

She relaxed into the bed. Her hand wandering over to her lover's chest. Feeling the comforting body under his night clothes. Her hand moving downward.

To her surprise, Arthur tensed and moved her hand off him.

"I'm a little tired." He explained. She sat up. Something was wrong.

"What do you mean your _tired_? Your too tired to have sex with me? You always want to have sex with me! What's going on?" She asked angrily.

"Nothing's going on." He said sitting up looking concerned. "I just... I'm not feeling it tonight." He said in a tone she wasn't used to. His voice was wheedling and weak. Nothing at all like the Arthur she knew.

"I'm sorry. Can we just talk for a while?" He asked.

Her mind was turning this information around. They talked in bed a lot, but Arthur never had to ask for it. He never put off sex for talking.

"Alright." She relented. "What do you want to talk about?" She asked.

"Well, tell me how you and Cobb met." He asked.

"You know that. Miles introduced us." She said with a smile "I met you a few hours later." She added.

They talked for awhile. Him asking about how she felt working with the Team. Questions about the Fischer inception. As if his memory had left him.

"Do not remember any of this?" She asked. "Because you got lost in the dream?"  
>"What?" He asked.<br>"When you got lost. When I had to find you." She reminded him. "Yuseff made a mistake with the compound and you couldn't wake up."

"Oh... right. Yeah maybe my memory is a little fuzzy from that." He admitted.

"You still remember _us_ though." She said running a hand over his chest. Arthur was looking back at her. His face soft and yearning.

"Yes... I... I think your a beautiful woman, Ariadne." He whispered. She was kissing him then. Her lips carefully playing over his as he allowed her touch.

He pulled away slowly.  
>"I'm sorry, I just... I don't want to tonight." He said feebly. Ariadne could feel his hardness on her leg. Ever responsive to her.<p>

"I think you want to." She said seductively. Laying her hand on the stiff shaft concealed under his clothing.

"No." He said pushing her away.

To her great shock, he moved out of the bed and retreated to the bathroom. She knew what he was doing in there. Taking care of his own need.

_Her_ job.

_Her_ privilege.

_Her_ pleasure.

He would return to her flaccid and spent. She felt a horrible sense of rejection come over her as she threw his pillows on the floor with a blanket.

'Let him sleep on the sofa.' She thought bitterly.

~ "So what do we think?" Eames was saying that very night they got Arthur out of the hospital. Dark bruises blooming over his face. Dried blood still staining the Point Man's shirt.

"Everything about what you described reeks of professionals. Could this be COBAL?" The Forger offered.

Cobb was shaking his head.

"We settled things with COBAL awhile back. Besides, they would have come after me or Arthur, not her." The Extractor explained.

"Maybe they mean to use her as leverage?" Eames ventured.

"They would have contacted us by now." Arthur said. His tone dark. "Besides, COBAL's people are clumsy and incompetent. This was a _professional_ job. They knew exactly where and how to take her."

"Right." Eames said standing up straighter. His mind working. "So were looking for a third party then."

"We have to think about any associates we may have had in the past who might want to hurt us." Cobb said.

"Were not exactly in the business of making friends Cobb." Arthur said rolling his eyes. His general out look was very negative.

"Let's think, we have former marks, former employers..." Cobb was listing potential suspects.

"Don't forget about other Extraction Teams." Eames chimed in.

"What about them?" Arthur asked.

"You and Cobb are the best at what you do. You trained an Architect that is now the best. It's not unheard of for another Extraction Team to try and forcefully recruit someone. If they can't get them to switch sides, they can extract information about the Team. Get a leg up that way." The Forger explained.

"We haven't worked with another Extraction Team for at least a year." Cobb said shaking his head.

"We still need to consider it, Cobb." Eames said softly. The Extractor nodded.

"Arthur, I want you to research former marks, employers, and extractors. Find out if any of them have arrived in Paris in the past 48 hours." Cobb said. The feeling of action upon them.

"This kind of thing would have taken time. Better widen the search to a week." Arthur said going to his trusted laptop.

"I'll make some phone calls." Eames said going for the freight lift. "This whole abduction wasn't done without the help of hired guns." The Forger whipped out his cell phone. "Fortunately boys, no one knows the dark underbelly of our business better then I do." He said with a smile.


	4. Chapter 4

4.

Arthur didn't complain about sleeping on the couch. He seemed genuinely sorry for how he acted with regard towards Ariadne in the morning.

The couple almost never fought. When they did, they_ never_ allowed it to carry over into the next morning. But when morning did roll around, Ariadne was still mad and Arthur did little to comfort her. Instead asking stupid questions about work.  
>"I don't know." Ariadne said. Feeling annoyed. "Your going to have to ask Eames."<p>

"I just wanted to know what we did, to really make Robert Fischer sell his Father's company." Arthur whined. A trait most contrary to the Point Man.

"Eames was with Fischer what it happened." Ariadne chastised coming out of her walk-in closet. She had dressed with the door shut.

"But do you think-" He started to ask.

"I don't want to talk to you about it anymore!" She snapped suddenly. Glaring daggers at him.

~ The couple walked to work in silence. Ariadne's mind always working, wondering, what was going on with Arthur. He wasn't acting like his normal self at all.

~ "You failed." Cobb said to Arthur from a remote location of the warehouse. The Extractor's speech and manners were all off. Eames was with them. His normal aloofness was replaced by a stance similar to a cave man.

"I didn't_ fail_, Randy." Arthur said pleadingly. "I just... just need more time."

"We ain't got that kinda time, Jim." Eames said shaking his head. His speech was lazy and uneducated. "I say you go in, Randy." He said nodding to Cobb.

"I got_ some_ information out of her didn't I? You go in Randy, and you'll only get her to close up more." Arthur said.

"Why is she closed up now? Jim, I thought you _knew _Arthur. Knew how he acts." Cobb said rolling his eyes.

"I don't know how he acts when he's alone with her. She thinks Arthur is mad at her." Arthur hissed.

"I'm going in." Cobb said. The Extractor's features, and even his clothing, was melting into the appearance of the Point Man.

Randy did make a good forge of Arthur. He had the same angry scowl and posture of the real Point Man.

Jim, defeated, relaxed into his normal and true appearance. A tall extremely skinny young man. About the same age as the real Arthur.

"Forge into Cobb, Jim." The changeling of Arthur growled before leaving the group of three.

~ Ariadne was working happily alone when Arthur's shadow appeared behind her shoulder. She felt his hands go around her waist. Long strong fingers.

"What do you want?" She said still feeling angry.

"I'm sorry about what happened." He said. His breath tickling her ear. She sighed. Not ready to forgive him.

"Cobb and Eames are staring at us." She whispered. Catching the Extractor glancing at them with a very worried look on his face.

"So?" Arthur hummed in her ear.

"So," Ariadne said side stepping out of the Point Man's embrace. "We need to keep it professional when were at work." She told him keeping her mind on her mazes.

"Your absolutely right." Arthur said cheerfully.

"We don't want Cobb to know about us remember?" She whispered.

"I'm sure he already knows. Probably jealous" Arthur said casually leaning down across the table. Preventing her from drawing. His eyes raking over her body.

"What is going on with you?" She hissed casting a glance at the other Team members. She felt her face blush at the way Arthur was acting.

"Lets blow this place." Arthur said suddenly sitting up. "Let's go get lunch and go back home." He offered.

"No." Ariadne said stubbornly. "I want to finish my work." She told him.

Arthur went to her. His hands around her waist again.

"I'm sorry about how I acted last night, Baby." He cooed. Nuzzling her ear. "Sorry I acted like such a pussy. Won't happen again."

Something about that whole sentence struck her as odd. Arthur detested nicknames. He hated pet names even more. He never called her Baby or anything cute. The only time he did it was when he was in the throws of love making and even then, she was certain he was not aware he did it. He also never used such tacky slang words. Never talked so rudely. Now, him acting this way, being so affectionate in front of Cobb and Eames... Something was off.

"Arthur, I think we need to get your head examined." She finally said.  
>"Why?" He asked kissing her neck. She moved away from him again. Her face flushing.<p>

"Because your acting _strange_." She hissed at him as she caught Cobb glancing at them again.

"I'm sorry." He said again although he sounded anything but sorry. "Please, let's go out and then just go home." He offered. Giving her a devilish grin that she found herself warming up to.

"Alright." She admitted finally. It was after noon already and she was hungry.

"Are you two leaving?" Cobb asked. His body language was quick and nervous.

"Yes." Arthur said. His tone cold and bored. The two men regarded each other before Cobb turned an anxious gaze at the Architect.

"Um, you make really nice mazes, Ariadne." Cobb said finally. His demeanor more like a science nerd the the smooth manners of the Extractor.

"Thank you, Cobb." Ariadne said in surprise.

"Yeah, Thanks Cobb." Arthur said sarcastically.

"Will you guys be back today?" Cobb asked looking at the Architect. Not the Point Man.

"No." Arthur said speaking for the both of them. Ariadne gave Arthur a hard look. Surprised at how he was speaking to his old friend and how disrespectful he was acting to her.

"Oh." Cob said looking put off. The Extractor glanced down at his shoes. "Alright then... I guess... I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Cobb concluded sadly.

"Sure." Ariadne said trying to give Cobb a reassuring smile before Arthur pulled her away.

~ Arthur took her to a nice little Bistro for lunch.

"I'm sorry again, for how I acted." Arthur said leaning back in his chair. Drinking in the sight of her. She thought it was strange how he acted. His manners were all off. Almost like a frat boy instead of the carefully reserved deportment of the Point Man.

"It's alright." She said ignoring that nagging feeling that something was off.

Arthur engaged her in civil conversation and listened to her. Very interested. Staying quite as she talked about her day. Her shopping trip with Sadie, the art class she was taking. He made comments about how the art class will help her draw mazes which guided their conversations easily to work. He wanted to know about he process for building mazes.

"You _do_ make very nice mazes." He told her.

She felt the wine was going to her head a little. She was enjoying his company.

"Thank you." She said with a smile and blush.  
>"Your so pretty when you blush." Arthur teased her leaning in and kissing her.<p>

She allowed the kiss. Sweetly and almost chastely on the lips. Smiling to herself.

"What do you say we get out of here and go back home?" He asked impishly. "Find something to do there?"

Ariadne had to suppress a laugh before nodding.


	5. Chapter 5

5.

Arthur's world was painted in gray tones of worry. He found himself staring blankly at the computer screen. Taking in nothing. Looking at nothing. His mind was thinking only of her.

His last moments with her. What was happening to her now. Could she still be alive? Could she be dead already? He body dumped out like trash.

Cobb had assured him that wasn't the case. That it was much more likely, given the attack, that she had been taken because of her skills as an Architect.

Cobb kept saying how this was not a random kidnapping and that she would not be harmed because they needed her for ransom, or for her ability to build dreams.

The Extractor's words fell of deaf ears. Arthur wondered what kind of place she was being held in. Would her captures hurt her? Drug her? Rape her? He felt his hands go into fists at the thought.

As if broken from a spell, Arthur saw a name on the computer he recognized.

"Jim." He said suddenly. The echo of his voice on the silent warehouse, got Cobb's attention.

"Who? Who's that?" The Extractor asked.

"I worked with him years ago. He's a... well he _was_ a chemist." Arthur explained.

"Was?" Cobb repeated.

"He... um... no other Extractor will work with him. He made a mistake with a compound. Killed his entire team. He work as a Rouge now." Arthur explained.

"He's dangerous then." Cobb said looking at the passport photo of a skinny man Arthur's age.

"He's not a very good at extraction, but he can forge himself." Arthur said remembering.

"How did you meet him?" Cobb asked.

"In the States, I worked with him for a few years before he went off the grid. He was a good guy, very mild."

"Do you think he could have done this?" Cobb asked.

"No." Arthur answered. "At least not without help."

"If Eames is right, then an outside source was hired to make the grab." Cobb said "Do you think Jim could hurt her?"

"No." Arthur said shaking his head. "I mean, it's been a few years, but like I said he was very mild."

"A lot can happen to a person in a few years." Cobb said. Arthur nodded.

"Find out who's he's been hanging out with. If he's rented any work space." Cobb said as the freight lift clanked back into the warehouse. The Forger strode out.

"Good news." Eames said "I found our hired guns." He said. "A lovely group of five was hired to grab a girl off the streets last night."

"How did you find _that _out?" Cobb asked.

"Your not the only one who can find things out from dream extraction." Eames said. "I have a contact here who works with these kinds of people. He's subconscious told me everything."

"This group of five wasn't hired by a guy named Jim were they?" Arthur asked.  
>"As a matter of fact, they were." Eames said looking surprised.<p>

The Point Man stood up and gave the Forger a hard look.

"Take us to your contact." He said. His voice like ice.


	6. Chapter 6

6.

** ~ Warning A&A fans! Read at your own risk. ~**

**~DO NOT SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!~**

**~Please keep in mind this is not the real Arthur!~**

In the dream world, time moves much slower. The few hours in the real world equaled days in the dream. Ariadne and "Arthur" went home early. It wasn't the first time they had played hooky from work.

She couldn't help but noticed the shyness she had seen in him before was totally gone. Not exactly himself, but much more friendly then he was before. He chatted with her. Asking her thoughts and opinions on Cobb and Eames. What she liked about dream extractions. About the Fischer inception.

She answered him honestly. Enjoying the attention after a night of neglect. They arrived home as it started to rain.

"Remember the last time it rained?" She said smiling. Her arms finding their way around his waist.

"Tell me." Arthur said huskily returning her affections. An amused little smile on his face.

"It was your birthday. The power went out." She told him.

"Well, that sounds boring." He said teasingly.  
>She laughed as she stole a kiss from him. The contact of his skin felt different to her somehow. In a way she could not name.<p>

"We kept occupied." She said. Her hands freeing him of his coat. Slowly taking off his suit jacket.

"Tell me. Tell me every detail." He whispered into her ear. It was like a new sensation. One she was not used to, but not one she found unpleasant.

Arthur was kissing her roughly. There was no other word for it. Normally his first few kisses were sweet and careful. Only later in their coupling did his lips become less gentle.

She broke free from his kiss as she felt his hand grab her breast.

"Slow down." She breathed. Feeling her face flush. She was used to Arthur's nice gentle movements. He was always attentive to what her body wanted. Never taking her to a place she didn't want to go.

"Don't be like that." Arthur scolded with a somewhat sinister smile that she never saw on him. "I know what you want."

"Arthur." She tried to say as he was pushing her body into the bedroom. His mouth was savage and course on hers.  
>"Arthur, I said <em>slow down<em>!" She said pushing him off her.

He was suddenly strong and insisting. His hands forcing the fashionable coat off her. She could hear the fabric and buttons rip. Her coat callously thrown to the floor.

"Arthur! Stop it!" Ariadne shouted. Helpless under his strong hands. Her small body no match for the Point Man.

"_I said stop_!" She screamed as he pushed her down on their bed. She attempted to get away from him as she kicked wildly at him. A fight was in her.

Arthur was laughing.

"So_ this _is what we did for my birthday, huh? Never figured you liked it this way!" He said. His voice was different somehow. Not so deep. His voice lacked the nice tones of the Point Man.

His body was over hers. His ugly breath was on her lips as she tried to keep her mouth closed. A real sense of panic was coming over her as he was holding her down.

Arthur had held her down many times before, but never like this. His restraints were always loose and gentle. She knew she could be freed at any moment. Now, his hands were hurting her wrists with the pressure that he was applying.  
>"Stop, Stop!" She cried piteously as his sticky mouth was on he neck. Biting her breasts still clothed. The thought seemed to occur to Arthur that she was wearing to much clothes for him.<p>

Holding her body down with his knees, a painful thing for the Architect, he striped her of her top and skirt under her insistent protests.  
>Her cries seemed to feed his masochistic drive.<p>

As he reduced her to nothing more then her underwear she managed to slap him. Her physical strength nowhere near enough to beat him away.

Arthur took the blow to his face as if it were nothing.

Never before had he hit her, but she had unleashed an anger in him that caused his heavy punches to rain down on her face now. She braced herself for the worst of it as she felt her nose break.

Blood coming in her mouth.

"Ah, Arthur has a wild cat doesn't he?" The Point Man said in a voice that wasn't his own. Ariadne kept her eyes closed tight from the pain. It almost sounded like someone else entirely.

In a way this was easier. She could imagine it was someone else hurting her. Not the man she had come to love.

"You are a hot one." Arthur hissed hatefully as she had no more fight left in her. Her face was hurting too much. She was crying silent tears as she felt him put his fingers inside her. Probing her angrily.

"Shaved and everything for me!" He laughed.

She tried desperately to keep her legs closed to him. Put he put a hand to her throat and ordered her spread wide for him. He squeezed her throat hard and she felt her head swim from lack of oxygen.

With ugly sobs she did as he commanded. Under his abusive words she did as she was told.

Arthur was calling her names the entire time he was raping her. He called her slut and whore as he forced himself into her. Laughing as he did so.

"Oh your so hot, so tight. Arthur loves you, huh?" He mocked her.

The assault was painful and humiliating. She was certain at one point he had even spit on her.

With a sick feeling, she felt him come in her. He was roughly pulling her at her breasts as he grunted like an animal. Then it was over. He had rolled off and left her to curl into a tight ball.

Crying.


	7. Chapter 7

7.

~ "So you were hired by these people to make the grab, right?" Eames asked a particularly burly gentleman. The Team had followed leads to an empty farm house. It's deserted nature gave a perfect air of unsavory activities. Inside, five men were waiting for the Team. They looked for all the world capable of inflicting harm on anyone.

These were the hired guns that jumped the Point Man and Architect. Evidence of their crime was literally written on the walls. Candid photo's of Ariadne and Arthur were tacked up on a chalk board. Lists of the couple's movements. Even a schedule of the play they had seen that night.

Arthur was looking at the five men. His face pulled down into a scowl.

"Your the ones who attacked us? Who kidnapped the girl?" He asked. Not intimated by these men.

"We did what we were _paid_ to do." The Tthug said defensively. "If you had not tried to fight back so hard, you would not have been hurt."

He waved a hand to Arthur's still bloodied face. The bruises coming in dark and horrible.

"What did you do with the girl?" Arthur asked angrily.

"We did not harm her. She was chloroformed and taken to a party of three men, they were waiting for her with a car. Where she was taken after we were paid, is not our concern." The Thug said.

"You kidnapped a helpless woman off the streets and gave her over to men who paid you?" Arthur growled.

"How did these people contact you?" Eames asked. His voice was more stable then the Point Man's.

"Normal way. Same as you." The Thug said turning to the Forger.

"What is their contact information. Surely they gave that to you if they paid you." Eames said.

"Sure. But I can not promise it will be any good." The Thug said.

"We need that contact number. We only want to get the girl back." The Forger said honestly. Playing the game.  
>"I do that, I break trust with a client." The Thug said "Not good in my line of work."<p>

"How much will it take to break trust?" Cobb asked.

"We were paid for the job of taking the girl. For getting the girl back, lets say, double what we were paid." The Thug mused lazily.

"Done." Arthur said quickly. "Tell us where they are."

"Money first." The Thug said with a laugh

"I have half a million in the trunk of the car, tell me the contact information." The Point Man said throwing Cobb's car keys at the Thug.

Cobb and Eames were giving each other worried looks.

"Very well, They were working out of an old hotel in the city. Here is their contact information." The Thug said sliding a piece of paper over to the Point Man.

"No hard feelings, right?" The Thug said with a grin.

"None at all." Arthur said swiftly removing a hand gun. With sharp precision targeting, Arthur shot each of the five men in the knee caps, and hands. The men had no time to reach for their own weapons before they were shot and laying bloodied on the floor.

Cobb and Eames were to stunned to react. By the time they had realized what Arthur had done, the five hired thugs were on the floor screaming in pain.

"No hard feelings at all." Arthur said. He stooped to pluck the car keys off the floor after the leader had been shot.

Arthur stopped for a moment and looked down at the leader.

"This information had better be accurate, I don't want to come back here." The Point Man said in a icy tone.

~ Arthur that wasn't necessary." Cobb said softly as the Point Man drove back into the city.

"They could come after us now." Eames agreed pulling out his cell phone.

Arthur said nothing as they drove. Eames making an anonymous call to the police. Informing them of the five men in a farm house who were responsible for the recent kidnapping of a young American woman. All the evidence they would need was tacked up on a chalk board. The Forger also advise they bring an ambulance as well.


	8. Chapter 8

8.

How long Ariadne laid in her bed she wasn't sure. Her face was hurting and her body felt exposed and horrifically violated. She felt dirty and wrong. She felt like all those awful names Arthur had just called her.

Despite the pain and soreness, she crawled out of bed and managed to pull on a robe. She could hear Arthur in the kitchen fixing himself something to eat. She debated whether or not to go into the kitchen. It was the only way to get to the bathroom and she didn't want to see him. Didn't want to see his mocking, laughing face.

What had just happened? She had been perfectly willing to be with him. Always had been. Why had he chosen to do this to her? He never hurt her before. What had changed him so suddenly?

She thought back to making him sleep on the sofa last night. Was that what had set him off? Was he mad at her for turning him out? But he had been the one to not want her. It made no sense.

Besides, Arthur had always like it when she was a little miffed at him. He found it funny to antagonize her at times just for the fun of make-up sex.

Feeling somewhat better with her robe on, Ariadne peeped out of her bedroom door. Arthur was there in the kitchen. Recklessly tossing an empty bowl in the sink. His expression unlike anything she was used to seeing in the Point Man.

On quite feet, she slipped out of the room. Never taking her eyes of the man she used to love. A slow cold hatred was boiling inside her.

"Go get cleaned up." Arthur ordered critically when he saw her. "You look terrible."

She froze in her tracks, the pain in her broken face made it hard to see him properly.

He was dressed the same as ever but his manners held no regard for her. As if she were an object he had broken and had no use or love for anymore.

She said nothing at all as she fled into the bathroom. Locking the door securely behind her. Still not feeling safe with him in the apartment, she moved a small chair under the knob to prevent him from storming in.

She felt the tears coming. Her face, her body was hurting now. A spiral of pain that was becoming wider and wider with each passing second. Quickly, she turned on the shower and let its noise drown out the sound of her sobs.

She could see the start of bruises on her body as she carefully cleaned herself. Dark finger marks on her wrists and breasts. Bruising on her legs from where he pinned her down. She didn't even look at her face in the mirror. Afraid of what she might see. She allowed the hot water to fall on her wounds, gently cleaning them. The water pink from her blood.

For a long time she stayed in the shower. Too afraid to leave it. She could still here him in the kitchen. She put her robe back on and thought about what to do.

She could always call the police. Go back to the bedroom and phone them. Speak in French so Arthur would not understand. His French was terrible. She had all the evidence of a violent assault anyone could want on her body. He would be arrested. Charged.

What then? She worked with Arthur. He lived here. She owned this apartment but once he was out, he would come and hurt her again.  
>So what? Move? She wondered over all these possibilities when her mind caught the thin silver bracelet on her bruised wrist.<p>

Her instinct was to rip it off her. Toss it away. It was a stupid trinket from a man she hated now. A man who had hurt her. Unconcerned about her sore wrist, she violently tore it off. Like it might burn her.

It's weight, it's balance felt off somehow. Her real bracelet was heavy. Deceptively heavy. This thing felt light. Much too light. The swelling in her face made it hard to see but she managed to squint at the engraving. It no longer read the sweet message Arthur had put there. It was something else entirely.

She looked closely at the cursive writing, it's artistic loops and swirls read very plainly : _C'est juste un rêve* _

Cobb would have called it a "poor man's" totem. She had been trained to look for things like it in the suspected dream world. Her eyes were intently focused on her bracelet. Could it just be a dream? She didn't have her bishop on her. Didn't know for sure.

When had she gone into the dream world? Who was the dreamer? She felt a shift suddenly. Felt her subconscious look for the insidious dreamer. Felt the army of her projections focus and want to destroy the dreamer. Ariadne stood and moved the chair, unlocked the door. As quite as she could, she peered out of the bathroom.

Arthur was standing in the living room. Fixing his neck tie. His face in the mirror. No, not his face. Not his face at all. In the mirror, was a face of someone else. Not of the Point Man's. Not her Arthur at all.

The invader was ugly. Older looking.

'A Forger.' Ariadne put together. Of course, now it made sense.

A wave of relief crashed over her body. Almost making her forget about the pain on her body. She had still be violated, but the fact that it was a dream and not her Arthur, lessened it somehow.

She felt her projections, her subconscious searching for the dreamer. If it was this man, hers would rip him man apart. The real Arthur had always teased her that her subconscious, once properly trained, was not polite at all.

She saw in her mind an army of rioters, of looters. All of them converging on the apartment.

The forger of Arthur must have felt something change as well because he went to the window. Ariadne didn't miss the opportunity. She had to be the first one to wake-up. It was her only chance to get away.

As the invader was distracted by the window, Ariadne made a brake for it. She silently stole out of the bathroom and slipped out of the apartment.

Her's was a large building. Ten stories high. She climbed the stairs two at a time until she reached the roof.

With one last look at the light weight silver bracelet, at its wrong engraving. She jumped.

~ A horrible fall and it's kick, knocked her violently back into the waking world. She opened her eyes and her breathing was hard as she looked around the room.

It was a desperately ugly hotel room. The kind even the poorest backpacker would avoid. She focused her mind to think. Her body no longer hurt. A hand flew up to her face and she felt no pain. She was wearing the black dress she had worn to the show. Her only jewelry was the thin bracelet. The gift the _real_ Arthur had given her. She slid it off her wrist. It felt heavy and just right. The engraving: _Je rêve toujours de vous.*_

Same as always.

A noise, a hissing. She turned and saw the PASIV device hooked up to three men. One of them large and fat. The other very thin. The last man... she would recognize that face anywhere.

She saw his eyes bat back and forth under his lids. His was dreaming.

A fierce revenge took possession of her. She stood and closed the PASIV device. With a strength she didn't know she had, she brought it up and down, onto her rapist's sleeping face.

She had not expected so much blood. His face was broken. His nose, his jaw. The PASIV device was heavy and did a good job of inflicting pain on the man who had hurt her.

The others were waking.

Without a second thought, Ariadne ran.

Down the stairs, past rough looking people. Out into the bright sunny streets. She didn't care how long she had been sleeping. Her only thoughts were to get to safety.

She must have looked an odd sight. A woman running in broad daylight in a black evening gown. People asked her if she needed help and she only ran past them. She didn't have her purse or any money. No ID. She had no fare to take a cab or bus. The neighborhoods blending into streets she recognized.

She kept running.

* _C'est juste un rêve, _French, It's just a dream

* _Je rêve toujours de vous, _French, I always dream of you


	9. Chapter 9

9.

"Arthur, you let Eames and I take the lead on this." Cobb said as the three men approached the ugly hotel.

"No." Arthur said coldly. His body language stiff. His face like stone as he marched swiftly to the front door.

Cobb cut him off. Trying to reason with him.

"I know... I know how much you care about her, but you can't go off like you did with the hired thugs." Cobb warned.

"Cobb, I stood by you on every insane mission you went on. Every dangerous attempt you made to get back to you children." Arthur said. His tone dark and exact. "If you don't want to stand by me now, then just say so."

With the feeling of brotherhood. Of men who had survived battle together, Cobb relented. He made way for the Point Man.

~ The room was on the third floor. Covering the peep hole, Eames called out in a phoney accent.

"Room Service."

This extraction Team was not very clever. They opened the door to see who it was, greeted by the advancement of the Point Man, Forger and Extractor.

A beefy man attacked Arthur first. Using his sheer mass to try and subdue him. Every resourceful, the Point Man used his own strength against him. Arthur didn't have to be stronger, or quicker, just smarter.

In a manner of seconds, the beefy man was laying in the floor. Gasping for air. His large hand clutching the broken ribs at his side.

The only other person in the room was a tall skinny man.

"Hello Jim." Arthur said casually. Training his weapon on the former chemist. "Where is she?"

"I don't know!" Jim said. "We woke up... we woke up and she was gone!" The skinny man shouted. Eames and Cobb searched the rooms. The bathroom, closet even under the bed.

"She's not here." Cobb said.

"Gentlemen?" Came Eames voice from the bathroom.

Cautiously, Arthur and Cobb followed Eames to the bathroom. In the tub, wrapped and a shower curtain, was the body of a third man. His face bashed in and bloodied.

"He's dead." Jim said. His voice almost manic. "We woke up and the girl was gone and he was dead. I told Randy... I _told_ him... I said '_Don't do it_' I told him I could get all the information without hurting her." Jim was frantic now.

"He _always_ hurts them. I told him I could get the information with hurting her. She was such a nice person!" Jim was crying. "I told him not to do it!" He almost screamed.

"What did he do?" Arthur breathed. His blood turning to ice. "What did he do to her!" The Point Man screamed falling onto the skinny chemist.

With an uncontrollable rage Arthur was hitting him. Blow after blow on the skinny man's face until the Point Man felt his fingers break.

He dropped the skinny chemist to the floor as Jim was coughing up blood. His eyes swollen shut. Teeth falling out of his mouth.

"He's... he did this before... we try to extract information. We never get a woman because of Randy." Jim breathed laboriously. His breathing impaired by the new destruction to his face.

"What did he do?" Cobb asked him as Arthur's own breathing was becoming dangerously quick.

"I... _tried_ to get the information out of her without hurting her. I forged myself as you. She was so nice. I tried to get the information, I really did. But Randy said it wasn't going fast enough. He said he could get the information from her quicker. He forged himself as... you... he..." Jim was sobbing now and shook his head.

"He forged himself as me..." Arthur repeated. Somewhere, deep inside him, he knew what had happened. "He forged himself as me... and he did what?" The Point Man said. A wild look was in his eye.

"I _tried_ to get the information... I knew what he was like. He's... he did this before. I'm sorry Arthur." Jim wailed.

It took the combined forces of Cobb and Eames to restrain Arthur as Jim cowered in the corner.

"We can't do this now." Eames said sharply. "How long have you two been awake?"

"Don't tell them _shit_!" The beefy man shouted, Cobb kicked in hard in the groin. Silencing him.

"An hour?" Jim confessed. Defeated.

"Right. She can't be that far if she left on foot." The Forger pulled out his cell phone. "Now, your going to talk to the police now. Confess everything to them. Tell them _you_ killed your lady friend in the bath tub there and _you_ kidnapped the girl." The Forger said sticking a hand gun under Jim's chin.

"Her _name_ by the way, is Ariadne." Eames added cocking back the hammer. "_Tell them her name_."

~ The three men left the hotel shortly after. Knowing that police were closing in and a dead body was in the tub.

"Do you really think Jim and fatty killed him?" Cobb asked driving down the streets. Eames sat in the passenger seat as Arthur looked dazed and lost in the back. The Point Man said nothing. Clutching his broken hand. His face dark and haunted looking.

"I hope so." Eames said. "The only other person in that room was our girl."


	10. Chapter 10

10.

Desperately seeking someplace familiar, Ariadne wandered the streets. She had no idea how long she had been walking before realizing how cold it was. The high levels of adrenaline protected her from feeling the bitter chill, but now, she was forced to wrap her arms around her body to keep warm.

She was tired and her feet hurt. The shoes she was wearing were fashionable, but not practical. Perfect for a night at the theater, but not meant to roam the city streets. She wandered aimlessly until she recognized a familiar street. She knew where she was going.

~ "We need to regroup." Cobb was saying as he parked the car in front of their warehouse.

"We need to keep looking for her." Arthur protested.

"We have no idea where she went." Cobb told him.

"She's out there!" Arthur shouted.

"If she's escaped, there is every possibility that she will come to us. The best tactic is to remain at familiar places to her and await contact." Eames said. "You know that."

"We need to set your fingers." Cobb added as the men made their way to the warehouse.

"I'm fine." Arthur grumbled.

"You haven't changed your clothes since the attack, your exhausted, and your hand is broken." Cobb lectured. "Right now, we need to collect ourselves so we can help Ariadne."

"She's close, I can feel it." Arthur argued at the lift came to a halt on their floor.

"Hello, Darling!" Eames whispered with a smile as they spotted a sleeping Architect curled up in one of the lawn chairs.

~ Almost afraid of touching her. Afraid of waking her from some kind of enchanted spell, Arthur approached.

Her face was pink from heavy sleep. Her long black evening dress looked oddly out of place in the rustic warehouse. Her make up was smudged and her hair messed. Otherwise, she looked fine.

"Ari-" Arthur tentatively started to say her name. Brushing her hair away from her face. Cobb and Eames held back. Sensing this was a privet moment.

"Ariadne?" He asked finally as she stirred and woke up.

"Arthur?" She asked. "What happened to you?" She sat up and held his face gently. Looking over the stitching, the bruises, the dried blood.

"I'm fine." He grimaced, taking her hands off his face and kissing them. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yes." She nodded. "Someone kidnapped me." She explained simply.

"We know." Arthur said. "Don't worry, their already in jail. We... we..." Arthur found he couldn't finish. He wanted to ask, but then again he didn't want to know.

She was looking at him. Her face sad. Her eyes puffy from crying. She was biting her lower lip from worry.

"Ariadne?" Cobb interjected. "We think that you were taken by extractors to obtain information about us. Is that what happened?"

"Yes." She told them. Her voice thin and child like. Somehow limited to short answers.

"Were they forgers? Like me?" Eames asked.

"They made themselves look like all of you." She told them. "That's why I trusted them."

Arthur's hand was in hers. He would not allow his eyes to leave her. She looked at him guiltily.

"I... one of them... he... he made himself look like you... I thought he _was_ you..." She told him. She didn't cry exactly, but large tears fell freely out of her eyes.

"I didn't know I was dreaming... I _swear_ I didn't know I was dreaming." She said clumsily wiping her tears away.

The Point Man produced a cloth handkerchief and dried her eyes carefully.

"It's alright." Arthur said softly. "I know you..." He let his sentence fall apart and die. She was crying soft little sobs.

"The... man who forged himself as you... he... I thought he was you, at first." She said. Her voice braking. "Then he started hurting me." She confessed. She immediately covered her mouth as if she had said a dirty word.

"What... tell me what he did to you." Arthur said.

He had to know. Had to know everything that the dead man in the tub had done to her. Had to share her pain.

"It was just a dream, it... it doesn't matter." She said looking down at her shoes. Her feet were red and bloody form her walking.

"It's never just a dream." Cobb said. "You don't have to tell us. We have an idea." The Extractor said as Arthur stood up and stormed out of the warehouse.

"Where...?" Ariadne sobbed fitfully.

"Eames stay with her, alright?" Cobb told the Forger who nodded.

Eames only nodded, taking out a small silver flask and handed to the Architect.

"Shot of whiskey, Love." He said gently as she sipped greedily at it. "Will calm us all down." He added as she handed it back to him.

The Forger took a swig off the flask and made a face from the biting drink.

"You may be pleased to know that the one who did it is dead. His Team members killed him after you got away."

The Forger lied easily. A_ necessary_ lie.

"Good. I'm glad." She told him.

"The Police arrested them already. You may have to testify." He warned her.

"Arthur hates me now." She said sullenly.

"No." Eames said gently taking off her shoes and looking over her sore feet. "He loves you more then anything. _Nothing_ will ever change that."

"I bashed that man in the head with the PASIV." Ariadne confessed finally. Eames nodded.

"That a girl." He cheered quietly, handing her back the flask.

~ In the small lavatory of the warehouse, Arthur tried to collect himself.

"Arthur?" came the Extractor's voice.

No answer.

"I'm coming in alright?" He said opening the door slightly. The Point Man was standing over a sink. His eyes avoiding the mirror.

"She was raped. In the dream, that man raped her." Arthur said softly. His face to tired to even look angry.

"I know." Cobb said. "She killed the man who did it. Escaped. I think it means she is strong enough to put it behind her. She knows enough that it was a dream. In time, it will feel like nothing but a dream."

Arthur said nothing as thought's of Ariadne being hurt. Being violated horribly by an evil man. A man who looked just like him.

"That's not what I'm worried about." Arthur said sadly. "He... he made himself look like me. What if she doesn't want to be with me now because of this?"

"She will." Cobb said consolingly. "I think she feels guilty that she was fooled by that forger. That she believed it was you."

Cobb let the silence pass between them.

"Let me set your fingers." Cobb sad finally looking at the Point Man's broken hand.

The pain of putting his finger back in place and setting them was cathartic for Arthur. An outlet for a rage he was too tired to let out. There was no one left to hurt. No one alive to kill. Those responsible were going to be punished, and for a long time.

His love had been returned to him virtually unharmed.

He should be grateful.


	11. Chapter 11

11.

~ Ariadne had decided to stay at Cobb's place for the night. Things felt strange between herself and Arthur. The Point Man did not argue the matter at all. Preferring to let her have her own space, her own time.

~ "For all I know, it happened here. In our bed." He told Eames as the Forger listen patiently.

Arthur looked around the cozy apartment he had shared with the Architect for the past few months. As short time, but a happy one. What if this place was tainted for her now? What if she never wanted to come back?

"You have to put this behind you." Eames said feeling too tired to debate anything. It had been an exhausting day.

After Ariadne had left for the night, Eames had stayed. Arthur was grateful to have a sounding board in the Forger.

"How can I?" The Point Man sighed. "She's not here. We've barely spoken." Arthur shook his head. "How can we stay here?" He asked finally.

"So move." Eames said with a shrug. "Get a new place, together."

"Not that easy." Arthur said.

"Boy this conversation sounds familiar." The Forger laughed.

"Eames, she was hurt by someone who made himself look like me." Arthur said soberly.

"But not you." The Forger pointed out. Eames shook his head. "Look, you can't _undo_ anything. The nature of the shared dreaming means that it will fade and feel like a dream eventually. The more you show her that it was just a dream, the faster she'll come back to you."

Arthur shook his head.  
>"She doesn't want to be with me anymore." He said<p>

"You don't know that." Eames countered.

"I do, I can feel it."

"Maybe she thinks you don't want her. Maybe she thinks she betrayed you." Eames offered.

The Forger's cell phone gave off a familiar ding.

"Sadie?" Arthur asked as the Forger looked at the message with fright.

"Um yeah. You think you got it bad." Eames said looking worried.

"Why do you stay with that woman?" Arthur asked.

"It's like she has me under some kind of spell. Plus she waxes everything. It's great." Eames confessed. Arthur only raised his eye brows. Mildly amused.

~ Phillipa loved having a female house guest. After Ariadne had showered and changed, Cobb had bandaged her torn feet. Not willing to be out done, Phillipa had painted the Architect's toes and finger nails. Bright garish colors that Ariadne claimed to love.

The young girl, probably missing the female companionship of her mother, had bombarded her guest with talk of all things female. Eventually tiring out and insisting that Ariadne stay with her in her room.

"I never thought she would miss having another woman around, this much." Cobb said when Phillipa left to change for bed.

Ariadne laughed.

"Well, I think I need to make an effort to be around more." She said sadly. "Might help."

"Maybe I need to start dating again." Cobb mused finally.

"Maybe." Ariadne sighed.

"How are you doing?" Cobb asked.  
>"I know I should feel more upset." She confessed. "But, it feels like it happened to someone else. Like it was a story I heard. That the whole dream was just so... preposterous and unreal."<p>

"That's good. Stay with those feeling." Cobb directed. "The dream space feels real while were in them, but when were out, they no longer have any power over us."

"Will I forget it? Forget about it totally?" She asked.

"How many dreams do you remember?" Cobb asked with a smile.  
>"I remember the nightmares." She told him softly.<p>

"Ariadne, we get shot and stabbed in dreams. We shake them off because at the end of the day, there only in our minds. They can only hurt us if we let them." Cobb said gently.

Cobb's advice, seemed valid. Phillipa was already asleep with the doorbell rang at midnight.

The Point Man at the door.

~ "Arthur?" Ariadne asked as Cobb let him in.

"I'm sorry to call so late." He apologized. The Extractor was half asleep as he let his old friend in.

"You two take the guest room and keep it down. It's been a long day." Cobb told them sleepily stumbling back to his room.

"I was sharing a room with Phillipa." Ariadne explained once the couple was alone in the neat little guest room.

Arthur only nodded.

"I'm sorry I left." She whispered. Her eyes wide.

"I'm sorry I let you leave." He said softly. Trying to laugh it off.

"So... what do we do now?" She asked.

"Do... um... do you want to stay with me?" He asked carefully. "I mean, given what happened, I would understand if you never wanted to see me again."

"No." Ariadne sighed shaking her head. "I mean no, I want to stay with you." She smiled. Both of them feeling awkward. "I just... I felt guilty and embarrassed that I thought he was you." She said avoiding his eyes.

"It wasn't your fault." He said. He finally made contact with her. Touching her arm. "I'm not angry at you at all."

"I think it's fading away." She confessed finally looking at him. He nodded and looked hopeful.  
>"Remember your training, to not give it substance." He said.<p>

Every vigilante, he had long ago trained her for the more unpleasant aspects of dream sharing. Getting hurt or killed in the dreams. So it would not traumatize her.

It was a surprise to him to find she had moved into his arms. He was glad he had thought to shower and change clothes before coming over.

"You smell good." She said breathing him in.

"So do you." He replied holding her. Her body felt perfect against his. "I was so worried." He confessed. "I thought I had lost you forever."

"No, you would have found me." She told him. "I just beat you to it." She teased.

He kissed the top of her forehead. The same sweet movements she had come to expect from him. His body felt just right next to hers. She didn't need to check her bracelet or her bishop to know this was real.

He was her Arthur.

**Don't worry, this is not the last chapter. Oh yes, there will be Erotica.**


	12. Chapter 12

12.

~ Reluctantly, Ariadne went to the Police. She testified about the kidnapping. Nothing about the rape or the dream. Somethings were too complicated. Too personal to be put into public record.

Jim admitted everything. Through a hail of tears he confessed to several aggravated illegal dream extractions. Even to killing Randy. That together, they had hired the thugs to grab Ariadne and bring her to them.

Jim and his Team had been doing this for years. Abducting people so they could acquire information. Most disturbing of all was that there were several women who were among those taken. Who never returned.

"It could have just as easily have been me." Ariadne said sadly as Jim and the beefy man were handed down a long prison sentence.

The thugs, likewise, were punished. All the evidence the authorities needed was at the farm house. Several of them were deported. All of them had warrants in other countries.

The Team never told the Architect that she, not Jim, had killed Randy. She would never know.

It was over.

~ The Team never spoke about it. The nature of dream sharing. The fact that it is only a dream, only a nightmare, meant that it only left a faint impression of memory in Ariadne's mind.

~ In an upscale neighborhood, Arthur walked into a spacious flat. It was classic and beautiful. His taste. It had belonged to a family who had lived there since the end of the first world war. They had finally sold it after many decades of passing such a coveted piece of real estate down through the generations.

The Point Man was attracted to the fine details of the high ceilings, the pristine wall paper, the floor to ceilings built in book cases. The family had taken exquisite care of their home and Arthur appreciated it.

Appreciated it so much he eventually paid far more then the original asking price to have it.

~ "So, what do you think?" He asked the Architect when she came to see his surprise.

"Arthur, this is beautiful." She said. The empty rooms echoing her voice. The space suddenly seemed impossibly big. "Were you thinking of renting it?" She asked.

"I actually bought it." He confessed relaxing on the built in window seat. The only seating left in the large empty apartment.

"What about our place?" She asked coming to sit opposite him. They were able to perfectly see the nearby park and other amazing sights from the front parlor's generous view.

"I was thinking that place was a little small." The Point Man said striping off her shoes and socks. Rubbing her feet.

"It's cozy." She said defensively, but smiled.

"I like your toe nails." Arthur said looking at the bright red, yellow and orange pained nails.

"Phillipa did them. Aren't they gorgeous?" Ariadne laughed. Arthur kissed her toes as she giggled and tried to get her feet away form him.

"What happens if we split up?" She asked.

"Well, I guess it would be yours." Arthur mused. "I would have run off so some island with a much younger woman."

Ariadne laughed. Arthur sighed.  
>"Who am I kidding?" He admitted. "<em>You<em> would be the one to have run off with a younger man." He sighed. "Leaving me here all alone."

She was laughing as he tickled her feet.

~ She had sub let her apartment to Sadie. Not willing to part with property. Arthur wanted a larger space, for reasons he was not willing to reveal yet. Their new home was impressive. Four large bedrooms, three baths. Even a small servants quarters and bath. The couple wondered how they could ever acquire enough furniture to fill the place up. Their own meager furnishings were dwarfed by the large rooms. Their bed looked very small in the oversized master suite.

~ Their first night in the big empty home was eerie. Like being in a deserted library or museum. The couple regulated themselves to their more comfortable master bedroom. All of her furniture from her old place could fit easily in there.

~ Ariadne was dressing for bed. She and Arthur had yet to be particularly intimate since the kidnapping. They had shared the same bed, certainly, but the Point Man had be respectful of her ordeal.

It was feeling less and less like an ordeal lately. She thought about it less. Days went by when she gave it no thought at all. She knew the memory would fade. She was grateful it was just a dream. That it was something insubstantial. That carried no scars except for half forgotten memories.

Inside their large walk in closet, she tried to pick out her night clothes. The closet was the size of a bedroom and she and Arthur both suspected that one of the bedrooms had indeed been scarified to make a large closet for the lady of the house. She could never imagine owning enough clothes to fill it. No matter how fond Arthur was of buying her cute sleep ware. Or lingerie.

Arthur insisted she wear pretty things to bed. Hating her worn T-shirts and shorts. She grazed her fingers over the lacy night gowns, neatly folded and tucked into built in cabinets.

She had just taken a long bath in the deep claw foot bathtub. A hidden bonus of the home. She and Sadie had gone back to the salon and she wore no panties under her robe. Enjoying the cool air hitting her cleanly wax places. She had gotten used to it, enjoying the skin on skin contact it gave her.

None of the pretty sleep ware caught her attention as she dropped her robe to the floor. Now totally naked in the large closet. Feeling sexy.

She looked over at Arthur's side. Where her clothing was colorful and bright, haphazardly hung up. Arthur's was impeccably neat and organized. His shirts arranged in descending order of color. His suits, carefully cleaned and hung up on wooden hangers. Some in dress bags, protected. She looked over her neat sock drawer and cologne.

Felling like a child at her mother's dressing table, she smelled his cologne. His after shave. So nice and subtle. Arthur's taste. It was his smell she loved the most about him. Other times it was his hands or his lips. But right now it was his smell. His natural pheromones attracted her like nothing else.

She felt herself growing wet between the legs just thinking about him.

She shivered slightly as she suddenly realized she was feeling cold.

~ Arthur was reading in bed. A habit of his just before making love or going to sleep. It helped to unwind his mind to read for an hour. To immerse himself in a another world for a while.

His body missed Ariadne terribly. It was almost crying out for her. But he was resilient in giving her her space. Waiting for her to be ready.

He looked up at noise coming from the closet, to see her leaning on the door frame. Wearing only one of his shirts. It was barely long enough to cover her. She obviously had no panties on under it.

"All those night clothes I get you, and you steal one of my shirts?" He asked with a smiled. Feeling embarrassed suddenly.

"Sorry." She said teasingly tip toeing over to him.

"You don't _sound_ sorry." He accused as she slunk on the bed, cat like.

"Because I'm not." She admitted, cornering him. Her lips gently nipping his.

"You look nice in it." He said honestly. "But I can't have you just _taking_ one of my shirts." He teased. Setting his book aside. Feeling a hardness coming over him. Wanting her.

She moved away from him. Playfully frightened as he advanced on her. His body wanting contact with hers. Needing her intensely as he moved his body over hers.

He could feel the heat, the wetness that was growing between her legs. His manners, his love for her, made him stop. A trepidation pulling him back.

"Are you _sure_ your ready for this?" He whispered. She looked so beautiful, so lovely beneath him.

Also so helpless. Her big eyes were bright. Her full lips were red. Her long dark tresses surrounding her face. Every bit a story book princesses.  
>"Arthur." She scolded. Her breathing rapid. "Stop being so<em> polite<em>."

She pulled him over her. Grinding her hips to meet his as her hands were pulling down his shorts.

Arthur was no fool. He needed no further permission to take her.

He could feel her blissful body. Separated from him by only his pilfered dress shirt.

"I missed you." He breathed harshly into her ear. His hands wandering down the shirt she had stolen. Unbuttoning the first two buttons. Exposing her. Moving over her breasts, kissing her nipples, his lips touching her belly as his fingers glided over her naked sex.

Without entering her, he moved his hands over her hot wetness. Controlling her bucking hips. Her anguished moans.

He was amazed at her primal response. Her waxing made her so sensitive. She was capable of climaxing without any penetration at all.

He loved his birthday gift. Loved that she willingly kept it up. Loved how she became so wet without any effort at all.

She was breathing rapidly now. Her fingers sliding down to stroke him.

"Get off." She ordered sharply.

Fearing he had done something wrong, Arthur jumped free of her. She was on him then. Like a woman possessed.

Still in his dress shirt, although it barely covered anything now, she ran her hands over his naked body. His erection standing proudly up for her.

He almost stopped her. Told her she didn't have to. But the look in her face told him she _wanted_ to. Her doe like eyes flicked to his as she kissed his chest and down his belly till she discovered his hardness.

With a sadistic slowness, she took him in her mouth. His spongy head she tasted and teased. Frustrating him. He found his hand was in her hair as she tormented him with her mouth and tongue. Never once taking those big eyes off him. He could not help but stare back. Incapable of resisting her.

Finally, she took him in her mouth. Her hot wet breath was over his erection as she made a great attempt to force his entire girth in. She was to small and he was to large, but the fact she kept at it only excited him more. He felt himself becoming too excited as she worked him. Abused him. Her head moving up and down. Trying to fit him in.

"Stop." He managed to cry out. Afraid he would come before he had a chance to take her.

To find what was almost lost.

She did as he asked, and returned to him. Her sweet body over him as the cool air hit his need that was used to the warmth and wetness of her mouth.

He was not expecting her to take charge of him like this. He planed to make love to her gently. She however, had no such plan. As always, he bent to her will in such matters.

Her small delicate hands were wrapped around his member now. Pumping him. His body was stiffening under her work. Unable to fight back.

She straddled him. Her hairless sex swallowing him up completely as she slid easily down his shaft.

She felt wonderful. Better then her mouth, better then her hands. Better then he remembered even. The period of time when he gave her space had made the intensity so much stronger.

She felt hotter and tighter then he remembered. Her inner passage taking all of him. Her muscles cinching around his ridged excitement.

He was left gasping for air as he could only watch her. Her beautiful body. His shirt still on her but hiding nothing. Leaving her open for his viewing. Her small but pert breasts, her taut belly, her hairless desire. Glistening with her own wetness. He could see everything.

Subconsciously, his hands went to her buttocks as she wiggled and rode him effortlessly. Her breasts moving up and down with her movements. Her head thrown back as she took what she wanted from him.

She was so beautiful. Her body, her face. Everything about her, inside and out felt perfect to him. Her being nearly lost was an unbearable thought. He could never live with out her.

Her savage moaning brought him back to the real world. He had not even noticed he was playing with her as she rode him. His large hands were over her hairless folds. Easily finding places that would make her climax.

A sadistic delight took hold of him. His hands forcing a orgasm out of her. This nymph who was in such control of him. Who could take such possession of him at will. Do what she liked.

Her reaction to his manipulation was strong. She collapsed on him as his fingers and hands flighted over her sex. The lack of hair making it so easy to find his way.

She was now the one who was helpless. Who was falling victim to her own lust. Her body fell on top of his as he rolled over on her. His body resting between her spread legs.

His excitement at taking her. His being in command as he ground his hips into her soft yielding places. Forcing himself in deeply. Her wetness allowing him to journey so much further. Her cries of pleasure. Unrestrained, as he felt her passages tighten further, felt himself finally lose control of himself. His seed escaping from his body and into hers.

He was kissing her sweet lips. Her eyes half closed. Falling into sleep.

"Marry me." He demanded. His body spent. His words, a mere whisper.

She never opened her eyes, only smiled.

~ End ~

**Sorry about the long chapter. I thought about braking it up even more but I don't want to a abuse my readers too hard. I want to abuse you a little, but not to much.**

** This idea came to me as I was thinking how much of a violation it would be to enter someone's mind against their will. The fact that someone could forge themselves as someone else and take advantage of the subject is a scary thought. **

** It occurred to me that in the Inception world, such things might very well happen. Even if it was just a dream, it's still a disgusting crime.**

** I made the rape horrible for a reason. It needed to show how brutal this kind of crime can be. How awful not only to the victim physically, but emotionally as well. Although the real Arthur would never hurt Ariadne, most rapes occur by some one the victim knows and trusts. **

** Thank you all for reading my work. I will post more very soon. **


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